MP’s tributes to ‘women victims’

The House of Commons was stunned into silence as an MP read out the names of all women allegedly killed by men in Britain in the past year including a number from Yorkshire.

Jess Phillips spent six minutes reading out the names and ages of the women murdered since International Women’s Day last year.

The Labour MP said “violence against women has no one face” as she insisted “we must do better”, telling MPs not to let them die in vain.

MPs broke convention by applauding Ms Phillips at the end of her speech.

Opening her contribution to the Commons debate on International Women’s Day, she said: “In 2015 a woman was murdered in the UK every three days.

“Women murdered by men that they should have been able to trust.

She went on: “Commonly women are murdered by their partners, husbands and boyfriends, but also in some cases by their fathers, their sons and their brothers.

“We wish to give voice to honour the women who died.

“Today I stand to honour every victim and the fight to end violence against women.”

Ms Phillips then went on to name the women, insisting afterwards that the victims were not all poor and the men were not all “feckless drunks”.

They included Geraldine Newman, of Allerton Bywater, who was found dead in her home along with her two children, allegedly killed by her husband was found dead in Wales.

They also included Daria Pionko, found dead in Leeds; Natalia Strelchenko, formerly of Leeds College of Music, allegedly murdered in Manchester; and Leeds businesswoman Guida Rufino, of Idle, Bradford, allegedly killed by her husband who then took his own life.